The Collector of Tales
by ShinySheepGhost001
Summary: A traveling tomcat approaches the Clans, but not for food or land, but for the tales the Clans hold. (Written in the styles of multiple time periods depending on the setting)


A long time ago, there was a traveling tomcat who came upon a far-stretching moor, seeking a shelter for the cold night and the cruel rain. While he trekked the moor, he came upon the presence of a patrol of moor-dwelling cats.

'Brethren!' said the traveling tomcat. 'I have come from a faraway land and am weary from my travels. I wish to dwell with you for the evening and rest, for I will not survive if I do not rest. If you provide food to suppress my hunger, and water to quench my thirst, and herbs to heal my scratches, and a shelter to hide myself from the rain, I would be most grateful.'

The leader of the patrol, a tomcat with a pelt as gold as lightning, stepped forth from his ranks. 'Greetings, traveler,' said the gold tom. 'I would delighteth to take thee in and aid thee in thy time of need. However, I am not the true leader of this land. I must ask my superiors before we can take thee in.'

The traveling tomcat expressed his understanding.

Later in the day, the gold tom returned to camp with his patrol and the traveling tomcat. The gold tom drew himself near to a gray tomcat with an ear that looked as if it had been shredded in glorious battle.

'Gray Wing,' said the gold tom. 'Whilst on patrol, we fell upon this traveler thou seeist in front of thee. He seeketh asylum for the night. Shall we take in this stranger for the night and let him be on his way in the morrow?'

The gray tom with the shredded ear who was called Gray Wing inspected the traveling tom.

'Where hast thou come from?' said Gray Wing.

'I come from a land far beyond thine borders," said the traveler. 'Far beyond the towns of twolegs and far beyond the forests of felines. I come from a land that is much like thine own, but different from thine own. Forgive me for mine undescriptiveness and vagueness, for my mind is foolish and my tongue is ignorant.'

'What art thou called?' asked Gray Wing.

'I am called Chaffinch,' said the traveler. 'I wish for none other than food to suppresseth my hunger, and water to quench my thirst, and herbs to heal my scratches, and a shelter to hide myself from the rain.'

'I must first consult my companion for thine stay.' said Gray Wing. 'Till we do, thou art allowed to remain with us in camp.'

After a lengthy fellowship with the cats of the patrol, Gray Wing returned with a she-cat of black like the darkest shadows, whom Gray Wing introduced was Tall Shadow, his companion leader.

'We have decided to allow thee to stay in camp for the night.' said Tall Shadow. 'But in the morrow, thou must leave.'

'I thank you for your hospitality.' said Chaffinch. 'May I bother you and your group so much as to ask for one meager favor?'

Gray Wing nodded. 'All thou needs to do is ask.'

'What I asketh is for a tale to be spun, be it from a queen with her suckling kit, or an elder with wisdom beyond our own, or a warrior with the glory of battle that blazeth in his eyes.' said the traveler called Chaffinch. 'I wish for a tale of your feline to be spun and for me to heareth it, for I am not only a traveler of lands, but a traveler of cultures. I wish for the tales that belongeth to your fathers and their fathers and their fathers of the days when they were kits just weaned from their mothers' bellies.'

At the sound of his wish, a mother suckling three kits sat alert. 'I know of a tale.'

'Thou does?' said Chaffinch. 'May I hear it? I wish to hear it and continue my travels, telling the tale to the cats I meet and the kits I bear, who will continue to tell the stories to the cats they will meet and the kits they will bear. Tell me, mother of these beautiful kits, what is thine name?'

'I am known as Turtle Tail,' said the mother. 'For my tail is short and stumpy.'

'Tis a beautiful name!' said the traveler called Chaffinch.

The mother smiled a great smile. 'I will tell thou the tale. Tis a tale from when mine former leader was a young she-cat and lived far from the mountains where we came from.'

Chaffinch and the surrounding cats silenced themselves to listen to the queen, and thus, she began her tale.


End file.
